UK's Brown says wants to cut troops in Iraq
* Brown says no to "artificial" troop drawdown timetable
* Maliki tells magazine he backs Obama timetable plan
* Iraq's main Sunni bloc returns to government
By Adrian Croft
BAGHDAD, July 19 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Saturday he wanted to reduce British troop levels in Iraq but he refused to set any timetable for their departure.
With violence down dramatically, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported a proposal by prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that U.S. troops leave the country within 16 months.
Brown earlier flew in to Baghdad, the latest in a series of high-profile visitors who have sought to bolster Maliki's government and encourage investment now that attacks are at their lowest level since early 2004.
Britain sent 45,000 troops to take part in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, but only some 4,000 remain at an airport near the southern city of Basra where they are training Iraqi security forces.
"It's certainly our intention that we reduce our troop numbers but I'm not going to give an artificial timetable for the moment," Brown told reporters travelling with him after meeting Maliki.
"The tests for us will be how are we meeting the objectives that we've set. What progress can we show?"
Brown's visit coincides with the Iraqi government's growing confidence in its ability to secure the country.
In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.
"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," he said.
It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and is set to go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East.
BUSH AGREES TO "TIME HORIZON"
Underscoring Baghdad's increasing assertiveness, Maliki and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed this week to set a "time horizon" for reducing American forces in Iraq.
It was the closest the Bush administration has come to acknowledging the need for a timeframe for U.S. troop cuts. Bush has long opposed deadlines for troop withdrawals.
Brown's government, whose opinion poll ratings have slumped, is expected to make a statement to parliament next Tuesday on Britain's future role in Iraq.
Britain announced last October it planned to cut troop numbers to 2,500 from around April this year, cutting back its involvement in a war that is unpopular with many Britons.
But it delayed the move after Shi'ite militias fiercely resisted an Iraqi crackdown in Basra province in late March.
Brown said key objectives that needed to be met for reducing troop numbers included training Iraqi forces, making sure Iraq could push forward with local elections expected this year and also in boosting development in Basra, the country's oil hub.
In a political breakthrough, Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the government on Saturday after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts.
While it had long been expected, getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as vital to healing divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.
Sunni Arabs have little voice in the current cabinet, which is dominated by Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds.
Brown was expected to hail falls in violence in Iraq, particularly in Basra, which was under the control of British troops until they handed over to Iraqi forces last December.
Analysts credit an increase in American troop levels and a more assertive stance by Iraq's security forces for reducing violence in Iraq to four-year lows.
Britain's army chief, Jock Stirrup, indicated on Friday that major troop cuts in Iraq, where 176 British soldiers have been killed since 2003, would have to wait until next year.
The unpopularity of the Iraq war was a factor in Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, stepping down early in June last year.
Iraq has faded as an election issue in Britain, but Brown's opinion poll ratings have continued to slump, depressed by faltering growth, rising inflation and sliding house prices. (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks, Waleed Ibrahim and Khalid al-Ansary, Madeline Chambers in Berlin; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Jon Boyle)
* Maliki tells magazine he backs Obama timetable plan
* Iraq's main Sunni bloc returns to government
By Adrian Croft
BAGHDAD, July 19 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Saturday he wanted to reduce British troop levels in Iraq but he refused to set any timetable for their departure.
With violence down dramatically, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported a proposal by prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama that U.S. troops leave the country within 16 months.
Brown earlier flew in to Baghdad, the latest in a series of high-profile visitors who have sought to bolster Maliki's government and encourage investment now that attacks are at their lowest level since early 2004.
Britain sent 45,000 troops to take part in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, but only some 4,000 remain at an airport near the southern city of Basra where they are training Iraqi security forces.
"It's certainly our intention that we reduce our troop numbers but I'm not going to give an artificial timetable for the moment," Brown told reporters travelling with him after meeting Maliki.
"The tests for us will be how are we meeting the objectives that we've set. What progress can we show?"
Brown's visit coincides with the Iraqi government's growing confidence in its ability to secure the country.
In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.
"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes," he said.
It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama, who is visiting Afghanistan and is set to go to Iraq as part of a tour of Europe and the Middle East.
BUSH AGREES TO "TIME HORIZON"
Underscoring Baghdad's increasing assertiveness, Maliki and U.S. President George W. Bush agreed this week to set a "time horizon" for reducing American forces in Iraq.
It was the closest the Bush administration has come to acknowledging the need for a timeframe for U.S. troop cuts. Bush has long opposed deadlines for troop withdrawals.
Brown's government, whose opinion poll ratings have slumped, is expected to make a statement to parliament next Tuesday on Britain's future role in Iraq.
Britain announced last October it planned to cut troop numbers to 2,500 from around April this year, cutting back its involvement in a war that is unpopular with many Britons.
But it delayed the move after Shi'ite militias fiercely resisted an Iraqi crackdown in Basra province in late March.
Brown said key objectives that needed to be met for reducing troop numbers included training Iraqi forces, making sure Iraq could push forward with local elections expected this year and also in boosting development in Basra, the country's oil hub.
In a political breakthrough, Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the government on Saturday after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts.
While it had long been expected, getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as vital to healing divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.
Sunni Arabs have little voice in the current cabinet, which is dominated by Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds.
Brown was expected to hail falls in violence in Iraq, particularly in Basra, which was under the control of British troops until they handed over to Iraqi forces last December.
Analysts credit an increase in American troop levels and a more assertive stance by Iraq's security forces for reducing violence in Iraq to four-year lows.
Britain's army chief, Jock Stirrup, indicated on Friday that major troop cuts in Iraq, where 176 British soldiers have been killed since 2003, would have to wait until next year.
The unpopularity of the Iraq war was a factor in Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, stepping down early in June last year.
Iraq has faded as an election issue in Britain, but Brown's opinion poll ratings have continued to slump, depressed by faltering growth, rising inflation and sliding house prices. (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks, Waleed Ibrahim and Khalid al-Ansary, Madeline Chambers in Berlin; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Jon Boyle)
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